Six thousand years.
As the new calendar began in the Interfaces, the protracted tug-of-war with the Heavenly Rain Realm came to a standstill, entering a confrontation phase.
Among them, half of the upper layer of the Interfaces was taken down by the Heavenly Rain Realm, and was divided up and plundered by the Heavenly Rain Realm, the Xuanyin Realm and the Dark Realm, arrogantly plundering the Interfaces' fortune.
This matter was spread far and wide, and quite a few interfaces were aware that the Interfaces had been attacked all the way to their own homeland, and that half of their territory had been occupied.
A few cultivators even knew that the Interfaces was a grand array for easing the reckoning of Heaven's Way. They were curious why the top cultivators who had set up the grand array did not come out to stop it, and some cultivators asked directly.
"With the Interfaces being attacked like this, won't it damage the grand array?"
The other veteran Great Sages who knew the inside story helped dispel his doubts.
"The crux of this grand array in the Interfaces lies in the array's core condensed by the Twelve Forbidden Zone Masters. As long as there is no problem with the array's core, it does not matter how much damage the array sustains."
"Moreover, the other cultivators who enter the Interfaces to plunder fortune have to bear the karmic consequences of the Interfaces. With so many quasi-Emperor Great Sages entering, it inadvertently strengthens the grand array instead."
"The Grand Interfaces who set up the array were overjoyed, let alone impatient. Not to mention, even if it's the Forbidden Zone Masters, it's just a matter of spending some time and effort to make up for any deficiencies."
This is the inside story of the Interfaces, and also the reason why the Heavenly Rain Realm dared to jointly attack the Interfaces with other realms.
To put it bluntly, it was the Interfaces' fault to begin with. After you've had your fill, you went ahead to attack the Heavenly Rain Realm first and killed five of their Saints. This infuriated the entire Heavenly Rain Realm, thus leading to this counterattack.
In summary, the Interfaces was itching for a fight.
Aside from half of the upper layer being lost, three tenths of the middle layer was also carved up and occupied by cultivators of the Heaven Mending Realm from the Heavenly Rain Realm, becoming a foothold for below-Sage cultivators of the Heavenly Rain Realm.
As for the lower layer, no cultivator dared to go there ever since Jin Lian the Great Sage had half of his Golden Lotus severed by a sword-wielding, dragon-riding, blue-robed figure that the cultivators of the Heavenly Rain Realm saw.
They also witnessed his world-shocking feat of cleaving half the firmament.
Moreover, they knew he was the Saint Hall's First Seat.
Now, only one out of the ten original members of the Interfaces' Saint Hall remained. Those Saints had either fled or perished. There were now only fifteen top existences left who could preserve their lives.
Wang Yangzi and Wu Saint occupied two of those spots. Over the years, the two cooperated closely with each other. They even dared to jointly obstruct the footsteps of the Heavenly Rain Realm's Great Sages. Although they never fought them directly, they managed to buy quite a lot of time before safely escaping each time.
The two also gained notoriety in other realms. It wasn't because they were very powerful, but because their fighting style was too nasty.
One was Wang Yangzi the Pill Saint and Sword Saint. Before a fight, he would first consume all kinds of pills to amplify his state, then fight with his lifebound flying sword called "Furnace Fire".
Wu Saint cultivated the Dark Sun Dao and the Heavenly Weather Dao. His personal combat abilities were decent, definitely not weak. Most crucially, he never fought alone. He always followed Wang Yangzi, either ambushing or launching sneak attacks.
Over the past few hundred years during this tug-of-war, the two killed four Saints, which was the best record below the Great Sage level.
The Heavenly Rain Realm even extended an olive branch to them, willing to let bygones be bygones and take them into the Heavenly Rain Realm.
It was just that Wang Yangzi was always unwilling. Whenever he killed cultivators of the Heavenly Rain Realm, he showed no mercy. Thus, the matter could only come to naught.
There was another cultivator that the Heavenly Rain Realm wanted to invite over. They felt this person was as important as the Forbidden Zone Masters.
He was the Saint Hall's First Seat—Chen Xia.
The Heavenly Rain Realm's attitude towards Chen Xia was extremely cordial. Because Chen Xia had never directly participated in the battles between realms before, he didn't even show up in the Interfaces' upper layer.
Moreover, Chen Xia's abilities were exceptionally astonishing. He was able to defeat Great Sages head-on. His combat strength was at the Great Sage level.
The more discerning Saints could even perceive his fourfold cultivation. They knew that his talents were at a shockingly phenomenal level. After searching the whole myriad worlds, one probably couldn't find many more like him.
If placed in immense realms like the Immortal Realm and Divine Realm, he would be a once-in-a-lifetime prodigy of those realms that even Emperors would fight over.
Naturally, the Heavenly Rain Realm wanted to invite such an exceptional character over. It was just that Chen Xia was always unwilling. Furthermore, he disliked cultivators of the Heavenly Rain Realm intruding into the lower layer and disturbing him.
The Heavenly Rain Realm also gave him a lot of face by prohibiting any cultivators from entering the Interfaces' lower layer. They practically conceded ownership of the entire lower layer to Chen Xia.
But in truth, it didn't amount to much sacrifice at all. Because the Interfaces' lower layer was originally a desolate place with pathetically scarce spiritual energy, fortune and destiny. It was barely enough to support cultivation at the Mahayana Peak, let alone the Mountain Moving Realm cultivators who had to go to the middle layer.
However, quite a few Mountain Moving Realm and above cultivators still came to take refuge in the lower layer over the past hundred years. They were hiding under Chen Xia's protection.
Chen Xia never said anything about it. As long as they didn't cause trouble in the Interfaces' lower layer, he never interfered.
The confrontation between the Interfaces and the other three realms was still ongoing. Both sides had divided up territories, conflicts arose frequently, but large-scale battles were uncommon now. Generally, the quasi-Sages no longer joined the fray themselves. It was mainly conflicts between cultivators of the Heaven Mending Realm. But there wouldn't be any deaths either.
Both sides seemed to have entered a stable phase.
The Interfaces began building high walls and using Divine Abilities to demarcate a large sea as the boundary to separate itself from the other realms.
It was equivalent to the Interfaces silently conceding to the loss of land.
Afterward, with no major battles occurring, things calmed down somewhat.
On a drizzly day in the lower layer of the Interfaces.
Footsteps sounded outside the hut, then halted. Next came a light knocking on the door.
In the eaves, a blue-robed figure lazily reclined and indifferently said, "Come in."
The door was pushed open.
First, an oil-paper umbrella painted with mountains and waters emerged. Then, a figure in white robes entered the hut, his face obscured by the umbrella. He seemed to size up the hut before chuckling lightly.
"Not bad living environment. Countryside farming life, very suitable for tranquil self-cultivation. If I retire in the future, I estimate I'd also build such a small hut for myself."
"There's nothing tranquil about it. People frequently come here making trouble." Chen Xia shook his head, then gazed at the gloomy sky with a sigh.
"Such weather isn't fit for hosting guests."
"No matter. It's just a drizzle." The white-robed cultivator laughed lightly. He gently spun the umbrella with mountains and waters painted on it, flicking raindrops towards the surroundings. Then, he gently closed the umbrella.
The rain stopped.
Warm sunlight rose.
The white-robed cultivator cupped his fist and inclined his head slightly towards Chen Xia.
"First Seat Chen."
Chen Xia's expression didn't change. Still reclining against the courtyard wall, he asked, "I'm quite fond of the rain."
"But rain isn't suitable for hosting guests." The white-robed cultivator smiled.
"That's why I like it." Chen Xia retorted.
The warm sunlight was covered by dark clouds.
Gusty winds blew up.
Silence reigned between them for a long while. The painted mountains and waters on the umbrella seemed to move as the umbrella fluttered in the wind, appearing vividly lifelike.
"First Seat Chen does have an amusing sense of humor." The white-robed cultivator laughed lightly.
"That's what everyone says. I agree." Chen Xia nodded.
"But it isn't always appropriate to be so humorous." The white-robed cultivator still had a smile.
"For instance?" Chen Xia asked.
"Now." The white-robed cultivator's robes billowed as he brandished the umbrella and strode forward. Heaven and earth changed drastically in an instant. Myriad rotations transpired as if the sun, moon and stars have simultaneously risen, accompanied by circling clouds and rain.
"Tianyu Realm's Shanshui Quasi-Emperor pays his respects to First Seat Chen. I've come to chat about an important matter, and hope First Seat can give me some face."